Better this Way
by WeAllFlyHigh
Summary: A humanstuck AU in which the game is won and the players are rewarded by getting to live as on Earth but only Karkat remembers playing Sgurb. (Nothing truly spoilery or out of canon and of course Karkat swears)
1. Better this Way

**Better this Way**

His books tumbled from his tired arms and crashed into the growing stack of papers at the bottom of his locker. Who gave a damn if they got nicked? If the school cared about their precious fucking books they wouldn't have given him such a large amount of them to sprint up and down several flights of stairs. Besides it wasn't as if this sucky school was actually going to punish him for it. No, they didn't have the guts to offend their precious 'prodigy' and maybe have him transfer to another school where his 'peculiar speech patterns' would be tolerated.

He angrily pulled his gray jacket out of his locker and yanked it on. He then took out his school bag and pulled its strap onto his shoulder. He cursed at the lockers damned door as it resisted being shut and shocked him. He kicked it shut and hurriedly moved down the hallway. He didn't want to spend another fucking minute in this poor excuse for a functional educational establishment. Of course they cared about every fucking student, even the ones that got fucked over because they weren't from the right families, and would never put test scores and school rankings over the happiness of brain washed little fools.

He ducked underneath the pungent hairy arm of one his peers and turned the corner. The metal door entered his line of sight. He had one more hallway to endure.

It shouldn't have been a problem. This hall was no worse than any other. The shouts of students, slamming lockers, and slight scent of B.O. filled it just like the other crowded end of the day hallways. No one picked on him. He had just enough influence on the schools administration to avoid that, those humans were so easy to manipulate. But some of his so-called-peers aggravated him by existing.

Damn it.

Why couldn't that be the real problem? Why couldn't he be the arrogantly distant douche they all thought he was? Why the fuck couldn't he stop caring about insane idiots who didn't remember him and had never actually met him because the universe or the fates, or whatever force of power humans dreamed up to make themselves feel safe at night, liked to take his feelings and knit them into some fucked up tapestry of tragedy and self-loathing that somehow ended up looking pretty good. Then stuffing it into a wood chipper, burning the tatters, and mixing the ashes in a compost heap, and after a few years of decay using the finished fertilizer to grow potatoes that would end up as the dried out a French fries dipped in grease that was served in the cafeteria. The fuck asses couldn't even remember who they were.

Their tough gray skin had turned soft. Their once black hair now came in a range of pale blonde to rainbow streaked. Their eyes…he couldn't even look at them without feeling rancid bile rising in his throat.

A cackle of laughter burst from a small cluster of them and clawed at his ears, dragging him forward. He kept his eyes on the door. He scrambled to dodge one of them as they surged forward to capture one their pathetically human companions.

After what felt like three years his hand landed on the door. He glanced back thinking that he must be a masochist in life. He swore he was like a drug whore to their powdered trip. As if one glance wasn't enough to get him addicted.

A pair of feminine blue eyes met his own. Fuck!

He spun around and almost collided with one of the students that was rumored to be in a constant high. Desperate to avoid contact he attempted to dodge. He knew he could deny his addiction if he only stole glances at them but to touch one of them…he would destroy what was left of his think pan getting a douse of that. He stumbled and fell down twelve steps but they didn't touch.

Several students around him moved to help. But he was up and retreating before they could say anything.

He couldn't believe how pathetic he was. Even the fuckasses whose lives revolved around idolizing and writing horrendously inaccurate porn about fictional characters had more dignity than he did. He tried to distract himself from wondering if any of them enjoyed those activities in this life by biting into his lower lip.

Pining over a bunch of useless humans, he had done that before and the body count testified that it had been a stupid fucking idea. It didn't matter that in another world they had been trolls, they didn't remember that.

They didn't remember a thing about Sgrub or Lord English. They had no memory of how hard they had fought or how many of them died. All the hell that they had gone through, they forgot every fucking bit of it. He was only one that had been 'blessed' with that knowledge.

And they-

They-

Damn them, damn them from every universe that was ever created in any time line ever.

It was better this way.

They were happy like this. They had safe homes and loving parents and never had to worry about collection drones breaking down their doors or fighting for an empress that would throw their lives away as easily she would smear glitter on her face. As their leader and friend this was what he had fought for. Even if it wasn't like how he had planned and he was the being emotionally fucked over for it.

The human once known as Karkat glanced at his knee. It was scratched and red blood seeped from it. His friends were happier than they ever could have been remembering. Fuck, they were happier than he ever remembered them being. And as long as he stayed away there was no chance they would remember that they were once trolls. They only thing they had in common now was his mutant blood color. And it was better this way.

**AN:**

(This fic was in the editing stage way too long.)

Anyways, Karkat's hard to write. He's very creative with his insults and I really need to practice that. But I got some self-depreciating humor in there (kind of). I might make a companion piece for this but I have other projects to do right now.

Thanks for reading! Please review if you have the time.


	2. First Sight

AN: Yeah I did a thing. No more things until other things get done.

It must really suck to be an adult in a kid's body. This explores that, taking place years before the first chapter when Karkat is about 6 years old.

* * *

His head hurt. There were flashing lights everywhere and people kept shouting things. And it was so fucking crowded! It was like he was caught in a stamped of muscle beasts, if the beasts were only moving at the speed of a slime beast, a drugged slime beast, they pressed so close. Why did his lusus think it would be a good idea to come here? Oh yeah, how could he forget? He didn't have a lusus.

He was stuck with this pink fleshy 'mother' instead. She was too colorful, he hadn't known humans could grow hair the same color as their blood, and preoccupied with things that weren't him to be confused for his lusus. Not mention she had no control over her quadrants. She honestly thought she could pursue a flushed relationship with someone already in a matespritship and that it wouldn't end in a flaming smear of shit. Fucking brilliant. Although he supposed he shouldn't complain considering he was a product of it; fuck that, he didn't ask to be born. And she told shitty bedtime stories.

His mother gently squeezed his hand to get his attention. He looked up but she still leaned down slightly, brushing her hair away from her hazel eyes. She smiled in a way that could only remind him of a dorky human that just didn't understand even the simplest concepts of the quadrants. They had that in common too. "Honey, do you want some cotton candy?"

Ok, this Earth had that going for it. Cotton candy, originally a troll delicacy, was still a cheap as sweet hell for humans. He hastily nodded. In return his mother lifted him up into her arms. Her hip knocked his shin but he held tight to her shirt because with his luck she'd probably drop him.

He could see more from here. Now that he didn't have to crane his head up or peak around someone's bulge to see the Ferris wheel was decently pretty all lite up and shit. He could even see the litter that slipped into temporary alleys and gathered around trashcans before it was sticking to his sneakers and covering up the parts that lite up. (Yeah, his shoes lite up when he stomped, it added to his terrifying aura. No one had even tried to argue that with him in their stupid high pitch squealing baby voices.)

Fine he would fucking admit it. Now that light didn't burn his eyes as easily as his mother burnt toast, the fair's lights were pretty fucking cool. And maybe his mother wasn't the most horrible replacement lusus he could have gotten. She did smell nice, he thought as he buried his nose in her neck.

A particularly loud noise caused him to peer through his mother's hair.

A grubby kid was terrorizing a clown. He was scampering all around and nearly making the poor makeup covered sap trip on his own over sized shoes. Where were the brats parents?

As if summoned by their god's complaints a pair of humans appeared. The female was frazzled and apologizing. The male wasn't fazed and simply reached down to peal the boy away. But as soon as the kid was high enough his hands snatched the clown's horn away. The kid was delighted. The clown was fucking pissed.

It was pathetically funny to see the clown try to look threatening. He didn't have the slightest clue about how to go about it. No human could manage to look threating with an over sized red nose and matching feet, not outside one of their boring horror movies. Really, they should ask him about scary clowns. No one had any clue how terrifying they could be. None of them had-.

No. Fuck no, he wasn't going there.

The kid's dad had managed to pry the horn away and returned it the clown who was now awkwardly stomping away, although he had to lift his legs bulge height and waddle to avoid tripping. The woman turned to brat to face her. He had some purple junk smeared around his mouth like a huge smile and it made Karkat nauseous.

That-

Oh, that was low universe.

It was lower than kicking a guy's bulge, lower than his blood on the hemospectrum, and twice as pathetic. But a really brilliant way to stomp on the corpse of his previously beaten and gouged happiness. Taking the leader of a universe destroying/creating kickass losing team and shoving him into a tiny human wiggler with all the delightful memories of being a mutant and then having him confront the reincarnation of his piss poor morail whose death he still hadn't come to terms with. And wouldn't ever be able to, if his thoughts when his scythe had been covered in indigo were any indication.

Fuck you too universe!

Maybe my past selves hadn't been able to stand against you without staining every nearby scrap fabric with red tears but things have changed. And I won't let you force me into this without a fight. Karkat began to struggle against his mother's hold. He kicked at her hip and stretched out the neckline of her sweater.

She responded immediately. "What- Honey stop," she demanded pinning his arms to her chest and holding an arm against his legs. "What do you think you're doing? You- oh Honey." Her voice rapidly changed from a hard shelled lusus command to a softer almost morail tone. "Honey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" She wiped clear tears from his face and smoothed back his hair.

Karkat sniffed and rubbed at his eyes. Crying on command was useful but stung like hell. "I want to go home," he whined.

His mother bit her lower lip and looked at the small bit of line they still had to go. "Are you sure? We only have to wait a bit longer until we can get some cotton candy and then we can go home with it."

"No, I want to go now." His mother still looked unsure and tired. "Please Mommy." He had her now; she could never resist his scraps of affection.

His mother stepped out of line smiling apologetically at the others still in the line for his temper tantrum. And for the record it was a very small excuse for his tantrums so that bald imbecile in the Hawaiian shirt better stop giving his mother dirty looks. Like he had a fucking clue what it was like to raise a god anyways. Bastard.

* * *

Yeah I'm just going to cut it off there. (And yeah I did imply that Karkat killed Gamzee because I'm actually concerned that something like that will happen.)

There will be no more updates to this story and if there is continuation or story that goes along with this there will be no warning added to this.

And totally unrelated, congratulations to childishdemon for graduating even though she didn't turn in all her work! Sorry I had to add that in.


End file.
